ASUS today at CES announced a new monitor that's 27 inches of 2560x1440 and 120Hz goodness, plus it comes with the new NVIDIA G-Sync technology built in. This is now the ultimate PC gaming monitor, but it comes with a premium price too... $800

Looks good...

This sounds great, but I would like to see a 24 inch version as 27 is just a tad too big for my desk, especially with multiple monitors. Of course, I'd like to see it come down in price too, but I'm sure that will happen with time.

The full release:

Las Vegas, USA (6th January, 2014) — ASUS today announced the ROG Swift PG278Q 27-inch gaming monitor. The Swift PG278Q features a WQHD (2560 x 1440) resolution, fast 120+ Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time and a full range of ergonomic adjustments. It also features ASUS GamePlus and NVIDIA® G-SYNC™ technologies that are designed to deliver the ultimate gaming experience.

Experience Immersive Gaming and Outstanding Visuals

Say goodbye to motion blur and lag with 120+ Hz refresh rate and 1ms response times for a competitive advantage in all your games, thanks to smoother gameplay and on-screen responsiveness. The ROG Swift PG278Q also features GamePlus, an exclusive ASUS feature.

GamePlus is an OSD overlay that enables crosshair and timer functions to be displayed on the monitor. Gamers can select from four different crosshair types to suit the gaming environment, while the timer function allows players to track elapsed time in real-time strategy games. These tools allow gamers to practice and improve their gaming skills.

The ROG Swift PG278Q provides an array of options that include DisplayPort 1.2 for native WQHD output, dual USB 3.0 ports, VESA wall mount capability and a versatile stand with full tilt, swivel, pivot, and height adjustment for an ideal viewing position while playing the latest game titles.

The smart cable management feature rids your desktop of tangled wires, while the super narrow 6mm bezel ensures the ROG Swift PG278Q is an ideal choice for seamless multi-display gaming setups. Another nod to gamers and improving the user experience is a 5-way joystick that allows the user to easily navigate the OSD and make quick monitor adjustments.

The World’s First and Fastest WQHD Monitor powered by NVIDIA G-SYNC™

The ROG Swift PG278Q is also the world’s first WQHD monitor powered by NVIDIA® G-SYNC™ technology. NVIDIA® G-SYNC™, a breakthrough in display technology, synchronizes the display’s refresh rates to the GPU. The ROG Swift PG278Q eliminates screen tearing, minimizes stutter and input lag to deliver the smoothest gaming experience possible. With G-SYNC™ technology objects look sharper and more vibrant, while gameplay is more fluid and responsive.

1Specifications and product availability are all subject to change without notice and may differ from country to country. Actual performance may vary depending on applications, usage, environment and other factors. For more details about the products mentioned in this press release, please visit http://press.asus.com

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About ASUS
ASUS is a worldwide top-three consumer notebook vendor and maker of the world’s best-selling, most award-winning, motherboards. A leading enterprise in the new digital era, ASUS designs and manufactures products that perfectly meet the needs of today’s digital home and office, with a broad portfolio that includes motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, displays, desktop and all-in-one PCs, notebooks, netbooks, servers, multimedia devices, wireless solutions, networking devices, tablets and smartphones. Driven by innovation and committed to quality, ASUS won 4,168 awards in 2012 and is widely credited with revolutionizing the PC industry with its Eee PC™. ASUS has more than 12,500 employees around the globe with a world-class R&D team of 3,800 engineers. Company revenue for 2012 was approximately US$14 billion.

The router is a weird teardrop cylinder shape that stands vertically. I'm not sure how the internal antennae is oriented, I'm guessing it's also vertical. I much prefer external antennae arrays. Maybe I just like playing with the positioning, but I feel I can cover dead zones better that way. We set this unit up in a one bedroom apartment, however so coverage was not an issue at all. Just be aware that if you are in a multi-story house, you may need to position this router more carefully. I'd like to give a quick shout-out to D-Link for including a power button on the unit. I'm glad this is now a feature, I've always hated having to unplug my router to reset it when something went wrong.

Setup was super easy, as you can see in our unboxing video, the unit came with a pre-set random password and both WiFI bands turned on. This beats having a default password that everybody who buys that brand knows. We wanted a custom setup, however, and plugged into one of the LAN ports to access the units dashboard. A quick run through the setup wizard and we were up and running with a custom SSID name and passwords.

We replaced an old linksys router with this bad boy and it made a noticeable difference. Of course, it should, being a generation ahead of the older router. We were able to watch 3 different HD streams at once on 3 different devices with no problems. The device has a trademarked feature called "StreamBoost" that's responsible for making this run as smoothly as possible. Though to be honest, I feel like the amount of bandwidth you have from your ISP is going to make a much larger difference if you are having bandwidth related issues. Still, the "application aware" traffic shaping is a plus for this unit.

The DGL-5500 is a simultaneous dual band WiFi router which means it broadcasts at both 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz at the same time. I highly recommend going with the 5GHz band if your devices support it. It's both faster and (currently) less congested. In my neighborhood, I'm the only 5Ghz station around, while there are about 20 2.4GHz WiFi stations at any given time. Actually, you know what? Stick with your 2.4... Yeah, it's ok, I like having all this spectrum to myself. :)

This router also supports the draft version (like a beta) of the wireless AC* standard. I don't have any devices that yet support this, so I couldn't test it out, but it reportedly offers gigabit class speeds wirelessly. If it's anything like the jump from wireless G to wireless N, I'm super excited. As it's still draft stage, it may be a while before you start seeing laptops and tablets with built in AC chipsets, however.

Overall, a nice unit with some good future-proof features and easy setup. It should be noted that if you're not interested in AC, there are definitely cheaper units out there (including lesser models from D-Link).

*I'd like to take a moment to publicly shame the body that came up with the "AC" designation however. WTF were they thinking? It sounds like it has something to do with electricity more than WiFi, it's confusing enough that there's an AC adapter in the box for power and if you search amazon for an "AC adapter" your going to have a bad time. They could've called it GB for gigabit or X for eXtreme (the kids love that, right?). Really anything other than AC would be better for the marketing team. I feel almost as bad for that name as I do for the "Xbox One".

I started gaming more with my PC lately. I'm pretty happy with my existing keyboard for office use... programming, writing stories, etc. But I kind of want a full-on mechanical keyboard with the tactile feedback and precision that it comes with. However, I've gotten used to the split layout of the Microsoft Natural keyboard 4000, seen here.

Great for typing, not such a good gaming board. I went looking for the unicorn, a mix of mechanical function and ergonomic form. Here's what I found.

We've all seen pictures of awesome fight sticks; now it's time to see some of the worst.

The Internet is home to some of the most awesome fightstick mods out there. However, there are a number of downright goofy sticks out there as well. Some are official, some are homemade, but all of these monstrosities are bound to make to make you say "WTF?!"